The Ties of Family (RotG Fanfic)

Chapter 30

Jamie stood at the entrance of the graveyard, looking up at the iron 'Memento Mori' sign. To the west was the pond, a place where he and his friends hung out often and where Jack was made a Guardian. Though it was also where he had drowned, there were enough happy memories made there to cover the bad ones. But Jamie was not one to easily forget about the past.

He walked along a narrow route which separated the cemetery in half, gazing at the gravestones as he passed them. Some were so old they were falling apart and their inscriptions were already fading. He tried to make out the dates on each one, as they played a part in his search. He had to be back before dark, so it was best to speed up the process. Several minutes passed before Jamie finally arrived at the grave he had been looking for. He knelt and merely gazed at the fading inscription, which was, fortunately, still legible.

"Jack," Jamie whispered, to no one in particular.

Jamie had mulled over several facts of his story and had wondered if, since Jack had died at the pond, he would be buried at the cemetery near it. Curiosity had overwhelmed the brunette and he couldn't resist a trip to the graveyard. There was a whole lot of other things he was confused about, but didn't feel like asking Jack about them, as in a way, it would be like accusing the winter spirit of getting his facts and dates mixed up and anyway, the guardian wasn't around.

Jamie left a small bunch of flowers by the gravestone bearing Jack's name and the dates of his birth and death, which were no longer legible. Jamie felt a pang of annoyance. They would have been pretty useful.

The boy turned and hurried out of the cemetery, but not before noticing the other gravestones around Jack's. There were his parents' and of course, his sister. Once Jamie was out of the place, he hurried towards the park, and to the statue. And for the first time since he was born in Burgess, he actually read the words inscribed on the plaque.

"THADDEUS BURGESS"

THIS RIVER TOWN WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1795, NAMED AFTER THADDEUS BURGESS, WHO BUILT THE FIRST LOG CABIN HERE WITH HIS FAMILY BEFORE THE BITTER WINTER OF 1795.

PIONEERS AND FREIGHT WAGONS FOLLOWING POST ROADS TO THE SOUTHERN MINES CROSSED THE RIVER NEAR BY AT NANCY'S FERRY, AND AS A TERMINAL FOR RIVERBOATS, THE TOWN PLAYED AN IMPORTANT IN DEVELOPMENT OF WESTSIDE GRAIN FARMING AND CATTLE RAISING.

Jamie had never been the best in class for history, but at that moment, he was hungry for a little bit of history of his own town. They hardly learn anything about Burgess, as it didn't really have much of a history, save for what Jamie had just read. The brunette hurried off to the library, hoping it would have what he was looking for.

He scanned the shelves, pulling out relevant books, maps and old newspapers, though he couldn't find any from the 17th century, before settling down at a table to look through them. The books were of no use to him, they were merely stories and more irrelevant history about places around, and not Burgess. Jack had mentioned he lived around the 1600s. Was Burgess even here yet, back then?

Jamie decided to forget about the books and maps and resorted to the Internet. When the search engine came up onscreen, the 17- year old paused momentarily before typing in 'History of Burgess, Pennsylvania'.

"'Centennial history of the Pennsylvania Railroad'?" Jamie muttered. "That's not really helping.

The brunette gazed out across the pond, at a forest beyond. He had abandoned his search and decided to hang out on his own. The pond's waters sparkled in the sunlight and the summer breeze blew softly, playing with Jamie's hair. There was no one around, as it was summer and not many stayed in Burgess. His mother was also planning to bring them somewhere, but had not decided. Sophie was being visited by Bunny more than it was good for her and she had been hoping they would take a trip to Australia.